Editorial Reviews

Harte’s story centers around Miss Mary, a schoolteacher who has recently arrived in the California town of Red Gulch. She meets Sandy, a handsome drunk, passed out under an azalea bush. When Sandy gives up drinking, Miss Mary tests her virtue and causes tongues to wag when they become friends.

Benson’s subtle inflections shift as he assumes the roles of Miss Mary and Sandy in this frontier tale of temptation and redemption.

Publisher's Summary

This story, one of Harte's most anthologized, first appeared in The Luck of Roading Camp and Other Stories.